Parliamentary Questions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department follows on answering parliamentary questions.

Karen Buck: The Department follows the "Ministerial Code", the "Civil Service Code" and "Guidance to Officials on Drafting Responses to Parliamentary Questions" when answering parliamentary questions. Copies of these documents are available in the Library.

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the expenditure on (a) buildings and (b) insurance of buildings and staff was of (i) his Department and (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in each English region in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06 in each case.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) maintains buildings in London and at Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire. It is responsible for one executive agency, the Wilton Park Conference Centre, which maintains buildings in Sussex. The expenditure for each of these areas for the years requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06(1) 
		
		
			 Buildings 
			 London 3,185,126.11 4,002,514.96 4,213,034.85 2,928,312.00 
			 Hanslope Park 956,842.67 589,299.48 1,169,837.24 1,239,319.00 
			 Wilton Park 158,620.00 170,552.00 184,120.00 151,880.00 
			  
			 Insurance 
			 London 0 0 0 0 
			 Hanslope Park 0 0 0 0 
			 Wilton Park 43,893 53,303 64,606 68,275 
		
	
	(1) Estimated
	The estimated figure for London buildings is lower than previous years as an additional £921,560 for the maintenance of the fabric of the buildings has been allocated in the mid-year review, but has not yet been allocated to individual buildings. This brings the total estimated spend to slightly below last year's actual spend.
	London and Hanslope Park buildings are not insured—the office acts as it's own insurer. The Wilton Park buildings are insured under the current lease agreement.
	The FCO also has responsibility for a number of non-departmental public bodies which have recorded expenditure on buildings and insurance in these financial years. The following expenditure was made in London.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06(2) 
		
		
			 Buildings 
			 British Council(3) 5,600,000 5,600,000 4,800,000 5,700,000 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 41,824 89,402 50,028 88,004 
			 British Association for Central and Eastern Europe 32,787 30,583 34,139 31,363 
			 BBC World Service(3) 13,700,000 13,700,000 13,700,000 13,700,000 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 0 0 0 0 
			  
			 Insurance 
			 British Council 0 0 0 0 
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy 1,655 2,031 1,834 3,849 
			 British Association for Central and Eastern Europe 1,549 1,596 1,739 1,571 
			 BBC World Service(3) 300,000 300,000 300,000 300,000 
			 Great Britain-China Centre 977 1,031 815 818 
		
	
	(2) Estimated
	(3) The BBC World Service and British Council figures are approximate
	The British Council also maintains buildings in Manchester, which incurred the following expenditure.
	
		British Council(4) £
		
			  Buildings 
		
		
			 2002–03 2,200,000 
			 2003–04 2,700,000 
			 2004–05 2,500,000 
			 2005–06(5) 2,800,000 
		
	
	(4) Estimated
	(5) The BBC World Service and British Council figures are approximate
	No expenditure on buildings and insurance was recorded during this period for any other non-departmental public body for which the FCO has responsibility.

Detention Centres (US Flights)

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2843W, on detention centres (US flights), what assessment he has made of differences between the UK Government's working definition of torture and that of the US Administration.

Kim Howells: In the UK, torture is defined in section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The Government do not have any other "working definition" of torture. Any "working definition" used by the US Government would be a matter of US law and practice. As a State Party to the UN Convention Against Torture, the US Government, like the UK Government, is obliged to prevent and to criminalise torture as defined in Article 1 of that Convention.

Pensions Contributions

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost was of pension contributions incurred by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) paid the following amounts in Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) in the years in question:
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
		
		
			 2002–03 24,301,473 
			 2003–04 26,253,831 
			 2004–05 27,034,675 
		
	
	We estimate that our ASLC payment for 2005–06 will be about £37.5 million.
	Payments made by the non departmental public bodies for which the FCO is responsible were as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			  The British Council Westminster Foundation for Democracy Great Britain- China Centre British Association for Central and Eastern Europe BBC World Service 
		
		
			 2002–03 5,351,489 59,523 13,026 15,699 1,700,000 
			 2003–04 5,726,288 73,227 23,681 16,532 2,100,000 
			 2004–05 6,193,803 67,598 20,989 17,580 2,600,000 
			 2005–06 (6)8,363,803 (6)99,876 (6)29,394 (6)18,500 (6)3,100,000 
		
	
	(6) Estimated cost.
	Diplomatic Service Appeals Board
	Holders of these positions receive a daily fee. No deduction is made for pension purposes and no pension contribution costs have therefore been incurred.
	Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine and Wilton Park Academic Council
	Holders of these positions are unpaid, and no pension contribution costs have therefore been incurred.
	Foreign Compensation Committee
	No expenditure has been incurred in each of the last financial three years and none is planned for 2005–06.
	Costs for the FCO's Executive Agency, Wilton Park, are included within the overall figures for the FCO.
	The FCO does not identify its administrative costs by area.

South Georgia Council

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the South Georgia Council last met; and who attended.

Douglas Alexander: South Georgia has no permanent population and therefore no Council. The Territory is governed by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as established under the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Order 1985. The head of Government is a Commissioner based in Stanley, Falkland Islands. The Governor of the Falkland Islands is the current Commissioner.

South Georgia Council

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who sits on the South Georgia Council; how often it meets; and where it holds its meetings.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today (UIN 49115).

Planning Service

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget was for the Northern Ireland Planning Service in each year since 2000; and what funding has been allocated for each of the next five years.

Angela Smith: The budget for the Northern Ireland Planning Service in each year since 2000 is set out in Table A as follows.
	
		Table A: Budget allocation between 2000–01 and 2005–06 £ million
		
			 Financial year Current expenditure Capital investment 
		
		
			 2000–01 7.1 0.6 
			 2001–02 8.9 0.6 
			 2002–03 10.1 0.8 
			 2003–04 14.3 1.0 
			 2004–05 13.9 0.7 
			 2005–06 14.5 4.3 
		
	
	The funding allocated to Planning Service for the next two years is set out in Table B as follows. Information is not yet available on funding to be allocated from 2008–09 onwards.
	
		Table B: Budget allocation for 2006–07 and 2007–08 £ million
		
			 Financial year Current expenditure Capital investment 
		
		
			 2006–07 11.9 0.6 
			 2007–08 10.9 0.6

Incitement to Murder

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions have been brought for incitement to murder in each year since 1995; and how many resulted in a conviction.

Mike O'Brien: The following table shows (a) the number of defendants who had proceedings commenced against them for the offence of soliciting to commit murder contrary to section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, or conspiracy to commit that offence, and (b) the number found guilty, in each year, of that specific offence, or conspiracy to commit that offence, for which figures are available.
	Some defendants proceeded against for soliciting to commit murder, or conspiracy to commit that offence, will have pleaded guilty or will have been found guilty of other offences. The following conviction figures do not include those other offences, and therefore understate the number of defendants who were convicted of an offence in each year.
	
		Defendants prosecuted at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for conspiring or soliciting to commit murder, 1994 to 2004(10)(11), England and Wales Number
		
			  Prosecuted Guilty 
		
		
			 1994 68 18 
			 1995 53 12 
			 1996 69 7 
			 1997 50 15 
			 1998 58 14 
			 1999 97 13 
			 2000 75 18 
			 2001 71 7 
			 2002 82 13 
			 2003 63 29 
			 2004 59 10 
		
	
	(10) Data are on the principal offence basis.
	(11) Offences under section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and conspiracy to commit this offence under section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Military Officer Promotions

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Solicitor-General when the Attorney-General next plans to address military officers who have been identified as suitable for promotion to the highest levels; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: On 30 January the Attorney-General addressed military officers, attending the Higher Command and Staff Course organised by the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, on the "International Legal Framework".
	There are no immediate plans for the Attorney-General further to address military officers who have been identified as suitable for promotion to the highest level but he will consider doing so where a suitable opportunity arises.

Bovine Tuberculosis

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total Government expenditure on tackling TB in cattle was in each year since 1996–97, broken down by main area of expenditure.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		Breakdown of government expenditure on bovine tuberculosis £ million
		
			 Activity 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Cattle testing 5.79 5.49 6.61 17.6 13.3 (12)5.4 24.7 33.2 36.4 
			 Compensation 1.55 1.44 2.36 5.3 6.6 9.2 31.9 34.4 35.0 
			 Badger control/culling trial(13) 1.48 1.66 1.83 4.6 6.6 6.0 6.6 7.3 7.2 
			 Other research 1.69 1.72 2.48 3.8 5.3 6.1 6.5 7.0 5.7 
			 Veterinary Laboratories Agency 1.40 1.62 1.85 2.4 3.5 3.7 4.1 5.3 4.9 
			 HQ/overheads 5.08 4.13 6.64 4.5 0.9 0.1 0.7 1.0 1.3 
			 Total 16.99 16.06 21.77 38.2 36.2 30.5 74.5 88.2 90.5 
		
	
	(12) Testing was suspended due to foot and mouth disease.
	(13) The culling trial was effective from 1999.

Syngenta

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the occasions on which (a) he and (b) his officials met representatives of Syngenta during (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005.

Gareth Thomas: DFID officials attended a meeting at 11 Downing Street in November 2005 for a launch of the book "Going for Growth". The book was published by the Smith Institute and sponsored by the Syngenta Foundation. DFID officials also attended the following meetings where representatives from Syngenta were present: the annual general meetings of the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research held in Mexico City in October 2004, and in Marrakech in December 2005; and the Bureau meeting of the International Assessment of Agriculture Science and Technology held in Bangkok, January 2005.

Climate Change Levy

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research into the effectiveness of the climate change levy his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The Government commissioned Cambridge Econometrics to carry out an independent evaluation of the climate change levy. This evaluation, "Modelling the initial effects of the climate change levy", concluded that the levy is effective and should save over 3.5 million tonnes of carbon per annum by 2010. In particular, Cambridge Econometrics concluded that the announcement effect of CCL in Budget 1999 will, in combination with the price effect, have reduced energy demand in the commerce and public sector by 14.6 per cent. by 2010.

Euro Transactions

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of UK companies that accept payment in euros for transactions in the UK.

Ivan Lewis: The Government have not made any assessment of euro-based transactions in the UK. Information on the use of the euro in the City of London and UK's external trade was published in Box 6.1 on Page 29 in the "Report on Euro Preparations, December 2004", available in the House of Commons Library.
	It is entirely a commercial decision for UK business to determine whether or not they wish to accept the euro or any other foreign currency. The Government published updated fact sheets "The euro: its your business", in June 2005 to provide information for UK business that wish to do so. These are available to download or order free of charge from the Treasury's euro website www.euro.gov.uk.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) salaries and (b) emoluments paid by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are exempt from UK income tax by virtue of being subject to the Bank's own internal tax.

Dawn Primarolo: Article 14 of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Immunities and Privileges) Order 1991 provides:
	"(1) As from the date on which an internal effective tax for the benefit of the Bank on the salaries and emoluments paid to him by the Bank is applied, any Director, Alternate, Officer and Employee of the Bank shall enjoy exemption from income tax in respect of such salaries and emoluments, provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted as precluding such salaries and emoluments from being taken into account for the purpose of assessing the amount of taxation to be applied to income from other sources.
	(2) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to pensions or annuities paid by the Bank."
	An internal effective tax system for this purpose was introduced by the Bank on 28 March 1991.

Parliamentary Questions

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many ordinary written parliamentary questions tabled for answer by him in the last 12 months have been answered (a) within 14 days, (b) between 14 and 28 days, (c) between 28 days and two months and (d) in excess of two months after the date of tabling; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, in the 2004–05 session, Treasury Ministers answered 84 per cent. of ordinary written questions within a working week of their having been tabled, as provided for in "Erskine May" (Twenty-Third Edition, page 342). The corresponding figure for the 2005–06 session to date is 79 per cent.

Scottish Bank Notes

Anne Begg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is legal to use Scottish bank notes in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.

Ivan Lewis: Under the Bank Notes (Scotland) Act 1845, certain commercial banks are allowed to issue their own banknotes in Scotland. There is no Act of Parliament that makes provision for Scottish banknotes to be legal tender in any part of the UK including Scotland itself. However, legal tender is a narrow legal concept that has little to do with the way in which most payments are made. Contrary to popular belief, the payment arrangements for transactions are not dependent on whether the means of payment are "legal tender" but are rather a matter for the parties concerned to agree upon as a matter of contract. Many transactions are settled through means of payment that are not legal tender such as credit and debit cards, and cheques.
	Legally, no one is obliged to accept Scottish notes, or indeed other methods of payment, in any part of the UK as a means of payment if they do not wish to do so.

Tax (Shrewsbury and Atcham)

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average amount of tax paid by families in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency was in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2001.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the average amount of income tax paid by families at constituency level are unavailable.
	Available information on the number of taxpayers and their mean and median total income by constituency, can be found in table 3.15 "Total Income by Parliamentary Constituency" on the HM Revenue and Customs internet website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm-315.

UK Coinage

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the costs were of minting each denomination of UK coinage in each of the last five years.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 4 February 2005, Official Report, column 1188W.

VAT Fraud

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of VAT fraud in each of the last three years.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of VAT revenue loss—the "VAT gap", for each of the last three years, are available in the paper "Measuring Indirect Tax Losses", published in December 2005. The publication can be found in the Library of the House or in the following link: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2005/mitl2005.pdf

Demographics

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the projected increases in the population of England upon demand and capacity in schools.

Jacqui Smith: The latest population projections produced by the Government Actuary's Department show that although the population of England is projected to rise by nearly 7 million people between 2004 and 2031, the trends are different depending on the age group. In particular, the population of children of approximately primary school age (5–10) has been falling since 1999 and is projected to continue falling until 2008. The population of children of compulsory secondary school age (11–15) started to fall in 2005 and is expected to continue falling until 2014.
	
		Population in England at mid-year by age at last birthday (thousand)
		
			  2004 2010 2015 2020 2025 2031 
		
		
			 Age 5–10 3,645 3,480 3,591 3,601 3,683 3,703 
			 Age 11–15 3,252 3,032 2,881 3,008 3,004 3,086 
			 Age 16–18 1,957 1,942 1,837 1,772 1,821 1,848 
			 All ages 50,094 51,715 53.009 54,344 55,594 56,832 
		
	
	Source:
	Government Actuary's Department 2004-based principal population projections
	The Department uses these population projections (along with annual schools census data and estimates of participation in education for non-compulsory ages) to produce pupil projections by age and school type to 2020. These pupil projections are used by the Department to inform the setting of teacher training places.
	The impact of demographic changes will also be considered by the Department in work on revenue funding as part of the spending review process. On planning the supply of school places our policy is that this is best done at a local level by the local authority, and they are allocated the capital resources to meet future demand. Local authorities have a duty to ensure that there are sufficient places and that high quality education is provided in a cost effective way.
	Many local authorities are facing falling primary rolls. Funding empty places can represent a poor use of resources particularly where schools with spare places also perform poorly. Working with local authorities and other partners we have developed a toolkit offering practical advice to help local authorities and schools manage falling rolls. The toolkit is available at www.teachernet.gov.uk/falling_rolls.

List 99

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people on List 99 have been permitted, at Ministers' discretion, to work in (a) sixth form colleges, (b) colleges of further education, (c) nurseries and (d) playgroups in each of the last five years.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 31 January 2006
	It is not possible to provide this information in the format requested.
	The Secretary of State does not give permission for people to work in specific settings; employment decisions are a matter for individual employers. Any individual who appears on List 99 or the POCA List (other than provisionally) on the grounds of unsuitability to work with children is barred from working in a "regulated position" within the meaning of section 36 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 which includes, for example, a position whose normal duties include caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children.

Departmental Entertainment

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on entertainment by his Department in 2004–05; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation.

Don Touhig: Information on expenditure on "hospitality and entertainment" for the financial year 2004–05 has been published at Note 3 of our Annual Report and Accounts, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
	A breakdown of the total figure by subcategory is not held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Expenditure on official entertainment is subject to strict departmental rules and compliance with the principles of propriety set out in Government Accounting.

Departmental Estimates

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will break down the (a) main estimate, (b) winter supplementary estimate and (c) spring supplementary estimate Request for Resources (i) 2 and (ii) 3 provision by (A) direct resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and (B) indirect resource DEL for financial years 1999–2000 to 2004–05.

John Reid: Prior to the introduction of Stage 2 Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) in financial year 2003–04, indirect RDEL did not exist as a budgeting aggregate, and I therefore provide figures for Request for Resources 2 for financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05.
	
		
			£ million 
			   RDEL 
			 RFR2—costs: 2003–05 Total Direct Indirect 
		
		
			 Total conflict prevention costs:  2004–05 1,413.610 1,398.510 15.100 
			 of which:
			 Main estimate 36.700 36.700 0.000 
			 Winter supplementary estimate 1,140.000 1,139.900 0.100 
			 Spring supplementary estimate 236.910 221.910 15.000 
			 
			 Total conflict prevention costs:  2003–04 949.884 916.746 33.138 
			 of which:
			 Main estimate 50.360 50.360 0.000 
			 Winter supplementary estimate 0.000 0.000 0.000 
			 Spring supplementary estimate 899.524 866.386 33.138 
		
	
	Request for Resources 3 is for the payment of war pensions and allowances, which was the responsibility of the Department of Work and Pensions until financial year 2002–03. All costs are classified as annually managed expenditure (AME), rather than as Resource DEL, and there are no separate direct and indirect controls on AME. The total figures published in the estimates, are therefore not split between direct and indirect elements. Copies of the estimates are available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Expenditure Limit

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will break down the Request for Resources (a) 2 and (b) 3 outturn by (i) direct resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and (ii) indirect resource DEL for financial years 1999–2000 to 2004–05;
	(2)  if he will break down each of the figures for conflict prevention costs in (a) note 2 page 188, (b) note 2 page 159 and (c) note 2 page 135 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2004–05 (HC 1080) by (i) direct resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and (ii) indirect resource DEL.

John Reid: Prior to the introduction of Stage 2 Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) in financial year 2003–04, indirect RDEL did not exist as a budgeting aggregate, and I therefore provide figures for Request for Resources 2 for financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05 in the following table. These are the same figures as those disclosed in the Annual Report and Accounts 2004–05 page 188 note 2 (HC464) and 2003–04 page 159 note 2 (HC1080), to which I assume the hon. Member refers.
	
		
			£ million 
			  Outturn RDEL direct RDEL indirect 
		
		
			 Total conflict prevention costs: 2004–05 938 865 73 
			 Of which:
			 Balkans (Bosnia/Kosovo) 85 75 10 
			 Afghanistan 58 58 0 
			 Iraq 747 684 63 
			 Conflict Prevention Programme 48 48 0 
			 
			 Total conflict prevention costs: 2003–04 1,233 1,089 144 
			 Of which:
			 Balkans (Bosnia/Kosovo) 103 94 9 
			 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1 1 0 
			 Afghanistan 36 34 2 
			 Iraq 1,051 918 133 
			 Sierra Leone 1 1 0 
			 EUFYROM 1 1 0 
			 Conflict Prevention Programme 40 40 0 
		
	
	Request for Resources 3 is for the payment of war pensions and allowances, and all costs disclosed in the Annual Report and Accounts for each year since the introduction of RAB are classified as annually managed expenditure (AME), rather than as resource DEL. There are no separate direct and indirect controls on AME. The outturn figures for each year are published in the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts for financial years 2002–03 onwards, which are available in the Library of the House. Prior to that the Veterans Agency (formerly the War Pensions Agency), which administers these payments, was the responsibility of the Department of Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Defence did not have a Request for Resources 3.

Gulf War-related Illnesses

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what analysis was made by the Government of the RAND report on pyridostigmine bromide before ordering its use during Operation Telic.

Don Touhig: The RAND Report entitled "A Review of the Scientific Literature as it Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses, Volume 2: Pyridostigmine Bromide" was published in October 1999. Following its publication, a detailed review and written assessment were produced by the Ministry of Defence's Gulf Veterans Illness Unit. A copy of this is available in the Library of the House.
	In summary, the review presented no new scientific work on pyridostigmine bromide and its possible association with Gulf Veterans Illness; rather it discussed a series of possible hypotheses drawn from speculation and debate at the time. The report did not advance our understanding as to whether pyridostigmine bromide was a contributing factor to illness suffered by Gulf Veterans. MOD has not commissioned any further work on the RAND Report.

Community Legal Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research she has commissioned on the perceptions of (a) Citizens Advice Bureaux, (b) Law Centres, (c) high street solicitors and (d) other independent legal advice centres of the effectiveness of the Community Legal Service.

Bridget Prentice: The Department commissioned an independent review of the Community Legal Service (CLS) in 2004. This was conducted by Matrix Research and Consultancy. The review looked at how the CLS had impacted on the accessibility of legal advice services and the quality of provision. Key stakeholders and suppliers were consulted on their views and perceptions of the CLS.
	In 2005 the Legal Services Commission published a consultation paper, "Making Legal Rights a Reality", outlining its proposals for the future development of the CLS. Key stakeholders and suppliers were consulted on the proposals outlined in the document.

Community Legal Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research she has commissioned on satisfaction of members of the public with the Community Legal Service.

Bridget Prentice: The Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) has conducted two surveys relating to the Community Legal Service and Civil and Social Justice since 2000 (covering England and Wales). The findings of the first of these surveys are available in the LSRC's "Causes of Action: Civil Law and Social Justice" publication.

Departmental Catering Budget

Andrew George: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much and what proportion of her Department's catering budget was spent on Fair Trade produce in the last period for which figures are available.

Bridget Prentice: Catering services to meet my Department's requirements are contracted out and provided by commercial suppliers. Consequently, my Department does not procure Fair Trade produce directly.
	However, a proportion of spend on Fair Trade produce against total food purchases by commercial suppliers providing catering services to my Department is set out in the following table. These figures relate to financial year 2004–05.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Total food purchases Proportion spent on fair trade produce 
		
		
			 2,796,582 171,641

Specialist Support Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent research on the effectiveness of specialist support services she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated.

Bridget Prentice: Research undertaken by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) which underpins their consultation paper "Making legal rights a reality" points to an increasing demand for front line advice for the most needy. The LSC has concluded that specialist support services do not represent the most cost-effective approach to delivering this need for more and better services for clients.

Housing Corporation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) total and (b) administration expenditure of the Housing Corporation was in each year since 1996–97; and what the estimates are for (i) 2005–06 and (ii) 2006–07.

Yvette Cooper: The total expenditure and administration expenditure by the Housing Corporation for each year since 1996–97 is shown as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			  Admin spend Total spend 
		
		
			 1996–97 29.90 1,638.10 
			 1997–98 29.00 1,327.80 
			 1998–99 28.80 1,245.80 
			 1999–2000 29.90 1,329.90 
			 2000–01 30.60 1,404.90 
			 2001–02 34.10 1,421.50 
			 2002–03 36.39 1,749.29 
			 2003–04 39.35 2,111.58 
			 2004–05 41.90 1,746.89 
			 2005–06 44.13 1,706.74 
			 2006–07 41.80 1,891.74 
		
	
	Figures for 1996–97 to 2004–05 are based on information from the Housing Corporation's annual accounts.
	The figures for 2005–06 and 2006–07 are based on proposed budgets as at 30 January 2006.
	The administration figures include expenditure on staff costs and capital. The total includes all administration costs along with all programmes, both capital and revenue operated by the Housing Corporation for each year provided.

Local Authority Housing

Paul Burstow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of local authority housing stock in (a) England, (b) London and (c) each London borough has been sold under the right to buy scheme in each year since 1980.

Yvette Cooper: The number of right to buy (RTB) sales in England, London and each London borough are shown on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/373/Table4StatisticsonRighttoBuyandothercouncilhouse sales Excel242Kb_id1156373.xls. http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/371/SalesoflocalauthoritystockinEnglandregional grossedtotalsExcel43Kb_id1156371.xls.
	Information on local authority housing stock is available in Table 116 at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/22/Tablel16Excel127Kb_id1156022.xls.
	The proportion of local authority stock that has been sold through the right to buy scheme is the number of RTB sales in each financial year divided by the local authority stock at the beginning of that same period. Information is only available for years shown. Regional and national figures have been grossed to compensate for missing data.
	
		Right to buy sales as a proportion of local authority stock: London authorities and England Percentage
		
			  1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 England 1.22 1.71 1.74 1.85 2.34 2.83 2.14 
			 London 1.36 1.98 2.08 1.85 2.25 2.56 2.21 
			 Barking and Dagenham 1.54 3.08 (25)— (25)— 2.60 3.01 2.05 
			 Barnet 1.96 2.24 2.01 1.37 (25)— 2.16 0.00 
			 Bexley 0.00 0.00 0.00 (25)— (25)— (25)— (26)— 
			 Brent 1.52 2.27 (25)— 1.47 1.51 1.82 0.00 
			 Bromley 0.00 0.00 0.00 (25)— (25)— (25)— (26)— 
			 Camden 1.79 2.02 2.81 2.50 1.83 2.02 1.70 
			 City of London 10.74 15.73 10.25 8.21 8.42 13.07 9.52 
			 Croydon 0.99 1.16 1.60 1.70 1.64 2.22 1.14 
			 Ealing 1.41 2.33 2.23 2.11 (25)— 2.33 1.27 
			 Enfield 1.10 2.41 1.63 1.57 2.18 3.06 1.76 
			 Greenwich 1.21 1.77 1.82 1.70 2.06 2.65 1.58 
			 Hackney 0.93 1.52 2.61 (25)— 2.61 2.51 2.83 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1.18 1.59 2.49 1.52 (25)— 1.73 1.56 
			 Haringey 1.44 2.27 (25)— (25)— 2.01 2.76 2.77 
			 Harrow 1.50 2.10 1.41 (25)— 1.18 1.53 1.94 
			 Havering 1.61 2.41 2.20 1.81 1.82 2.21 1.10 
			 Hillingdon 2.32 2.19 1.95 1.38 1.40 1.53 0.93 
			 Hounslow 1.79 2.08 1.78 (25)— (25)— 2.61 1.20 
			 Islington 1 .07 (25)— (25)— 2.65 2.19 2.44 0.00 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1.26 1.98 1.47 0.59 0.60 1.08 0.68 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1.03 1.86 0.98 0.62 1.37 1.37 0.72 
			 Lambeth 1.08 1.58 (25)— (25)— (25)— (25)— 3.00 
			 Lewisham 1.56 1.92 (25)— (25)— 3.34 (25)— 0.00 
			 Merton 2.23 2.33 (25)— 2.34 2.71 2.82 1.84 
			 Newham 1.25 1.83 (25)— (25)— 3.39 4.21 3.26 
			 Redbridge 1.27 1.66 2.03 1.79 2.19 2.37 2.17 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1.35 3.34 (25)— (26)— (25)— (25)— (26)— 
			 Southwark 0.80 1.24 1.59 1.86 2.03 3.05 3.84 
			 Sutton 1.29 2.25 1.57 1.40 1.75 1.81 0.74 
			 Tower Hamlets 1.85 2.61 3.72 3.72 4.69 3.32 3.68 
			 Waltham Forest 1.28 1.99 1.77 1.40 (25)— 2.64 1.93 
			 Wandsworth 1.33 2.63 1.70 (25)— 0.29 1.39 1.68 
			 Westminster 1.61 2.66 3.11 1.52 1.64 2.33 1.15 
		
	
	(25) Not applicable due to large scale voluntary transfer of local authority stock to a registered social landlord.
	(26) Information not available due to missing return from local authority.
	Source:
	Returns (P1A/B & HSSA) from local authorities to ODPM

Planning

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is in respect of (a) accepting hospitality from and (b) meeting an applicant of a live planning application where the application might be referred to him for decision.

Yvette Cooper: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister follows the policy on live planning cases set out in "Guidance on Propriety Issues in the Handling of Planning Applications in ODPM", copies of which have been made available in the Library of the House and a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member.
	Once a decision has been made, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has no further role. Even if my right hon. Friend's decision is challenged, it is not live before him unless and until the decision is quashed by the court and returned to him for redetermination.

Company Fraud

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide a list in relation to those cases where all proceedings are complete regarding the (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions for insider trading since 1997.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following is a list of individuals against whom prosecutions have been brought by the DTI for offences contrary to s52 Criminal Justice Act 1993 or s1 Criminal Law Act 1977 (insider dealing) have been instituted since 1997. Other prosecutions may have been brought by other prosecution agencies. Prosecutions have been considered "successful" where a conviction has been recorded. Those that did not result in convictions may be due to the prosecution withdrawing those offences or not guilty verdicts being entered by the jury or at the judge's direction. Since 1997 proceedings have been brought against 15 individuals of which nine were "successful".
	
		
			 Name of Defendant  
		
		
			 Laurence Henry Champion Convicted 
			 John Cahill Convicted 
			 Gerald Cahill Convicted 
			 Richard Philip King Convicted 
			 Stuart Axam Not Convicted 
			 Jonathan Richard Arthur Townsend Not Convicted 
			 Wayne Daw Convicted 
			 Christopher Williams Convicted 
			 Anthony Hadnutt Not Convicted 
			 Stephen Porter Convicted 
			 Gareth Wynne Davies Not Convicted 
			 Timothy Blackstone Convicted 
			 Stephen Ziff Not Convicted 
			 Stuart Neil Ronson Not Convicted 
			 Richard Steele Convicted

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible and (c) each independent statutory body, organisation and body financially sponsored by his Department in each year since May 1997.

Alan Johnson: Central records indicate that the cost to the Department of engaging external consultants and advisers in each of the following financial years has been as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Amount 
		
		
			 1999–2000 21 
			 2000–01 36 
			 2001–02 64 
			 2002–03 93 
			 2003–04 112 
			 2004–05 86 
		
	
	I have asked the chief executives of the Executive Agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.
	Further information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Letter from Jeff Llewellyn, dated 13 February 2006
	The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question regarding how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible and (c) each independent statutory body, organisation and body financially sponsored by his Department in each year since May 1997.
	The total expenditure by NWML on external Consultants and Advisers in each year during the period 1997–1998 to 2004–2005 was:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Amount 
		
		
			 1997–98 (29)— 
			 1998–99 (29)— 
			 1999–2000 (29)— 
			 2000–01 64,087 
			 2001–02 80,290 
			 2002–03 71,010 
			 2003–04 68,119 
			 2004–05 53,837 
		
	
	(29) Not available.
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 13 February 2006
	I am responding to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on behalf of Companies House, which is an Executive Agency of the DTI.
	Spend on external consultants and advisers by Companies House is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Amount 
		
		
			 2004–05 664,000 
			 2003–04 931,000 
			 2002–03 674,000 
			 2001–02 504,000 
			 2000–01 565,000 
		
	
	Details from earlier years are unavailable due to the disproportionate cost of retrieval.
	Letter from Jeanne Spinks, dated 13 February 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible and (c) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by his Department in each year since May 1997.
	The Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) has spent the following amounts on external consultants and advisors in the following financial years:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Amount 
		
		
			 2001–02 119,255 
			 2002–03 457,757 
			 2003–04 441,838 
			 2004–05 384,907 
		
	
	Information requested relating to earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
	Letter from Desmond Flynn, dated 13 February 2006
	The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2522/2005) requesting information on money spent on external consultants and advisors since May 1997.
	The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry spent the following amounts on external consultants and advisors:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Amount 
		
		
			 1997–98 Nil 
			 1998–99 (30)5 
			 1999–2000 Nil 
			 2000–01 Nil 
			 2001–02 (31)125 
			 2002–03 Nil 
			 2003–04 (32)34 
			 2004–05 Nil 
			 2005–06 (33)20 
		
	
	(30) Training strategy.
	(31) E business.
	(32) £18,000 race equality impact study and £16,000 help line study.
	(33) Publishing to the Intranet.
	Letter from Ron Marchant, dated 13 February 2006
	I am responding to this parliamentary question, tabled on 19 December 2005, concerning how much was spent on external consultants and advisers in each year since May 1997.
	The Patent Office response is:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Amount 
		
		
			 1997–98 39,000 
			 1998–99 8,000 
			 1999–2000 16,000 
			 2000–01 26,000 
			 2001–02 53,000 
			 2002–03 69,000 
			 2003–04 32,000 
			 2004–05 10,400 
			 2005–06(34) 17,500 
		
	
	(34) To date.

Estate Agents

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many estate agent businesses there were in each year since 1997 in (a) Leicester and (b) England.

John Healey: I have asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 February 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning how many estate agents businesses there were in each year since 1997 in (a) Leicester and (b) England. (49739)
	The figures for estate agents (SIC 7031) are provided in the attached table.
	These figures are based on the criteria used in the National Statistics publication "UK Business: Activity, Size and Location" (formerly known as PA1003: Size Analysis of United Kingdom Businesses), published on the National Statistics website: www.statistics.gov.uk/ukbusiness, and relate to the number of local units operated by businesses registered for VAT as at March 1997 through to 2005.
	All figures have been rounded to the nearest five to avoid disclosure.
	
		Analysis shows the count of VAT based local units in England and Leicester UA from 1997 to 2005 for S1C2003,7031, real estate Data as at March of each year
		
			 Local unit count by specified year England Leicester UA 
		
		
			 1997 11,530 50 
			 1998 11,275 45 
			 1999 11,720 50 
			 2000 11,770 50 
			 2001 12,955 60 
			 2002 11,785 55 
			 2003 12,550 60 
			 2004 13,725 65 
			 2005 14,725 70

Gas Storage Capacity

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to increase the UK's gas storage capacity.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government's policy is to ensure an effective gas market, to provide the price signals that incentivise commercial gas storage projects. Some 10 new projects are currently being developed, which (if they all proceed to commissioning) would more than double GB's gas storage capacity; the projects are listed in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's "First Report to Parliament on Security of Gas Supply and Electricity Supply in Great Britain", available at www.dti.gov.uk/energy. The reports of JESS (the Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group), also on the Department's website, help the market to work effectively by publishing information about the potential contribution of proposed gas infrastructure projects to gas supply. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has announced that the Government are reviewing the onshore consents regime for gas supply infrastructure, with new legislation if appropriate; and that the Government propose to introduce legislation to facilitate the construction of offshore salt caverns for gas storage. In addition, my right hon. Friend is preparing for submission to Parliament a statement of the national need for additional gas supply infrastructure, including storage facilities, to reinforce the existing arrangements for informing planning authorities. The Energy Review, and the Barker Review of the Planning and Land Use System, are also considering related issues.

Home Credit Companies

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the status of the consultation on improving the transparency of the process used by home credit companies to obtain written permission to offer a cash loan; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government announced their intention to consult stakeholders seeking views on ways to improve the transparency of the process whereby home credit companies gain the written permission needed to offer a cash loan on the doorstep through the credit agreement on another product, in "Promoting Financial Inclusion" which was published alongside the pre-Budget report 2004. Subsequently the Office of Fair Trading referred the supply of home credit to the Competition Commission and an inquiry is ongoing. The canvassing of loans is one issue being considered by the Competition Commission as part of this inquiry. The Government will decide what further action may be necessary following the publication of the findings of this inquiry.

Political Donations

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation requiring companies to disclose all donations made to (a) political organisations and (b) parliamentarians.

Alun Michael: Companies are required to disclose donations to political organisations, including registered political parties, in the directors' report under the reporting requirements of Schedule 7 to the Companies Act 1985. Such disclosure is not required if the aggregate amount of donations and political expenditure did not exceed 200 in the relevant financial year.
	A "political donation" for the purposes of this reporting requirement is defined by reference to sections 50 to 52 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Section 50(6) of that Act provides that anything given or transferred to any officer, member, trustee or agent of a registered party in his capacity as such (and not for his own use or benefit) is to be regarded as given or transferred to the party.
	The Company Law Reform Bill and regulations made under it will largely restate the current regime relating to the authorisation and disclosure of political donations by companies, but the Government has announced its intention to raise the £200 threshold for disclosure to £2,000.

Regional Development Agencies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where each Regional Development Agency office is located; and how much (a) inward investment and (b) trade each brought to its region in the last period for which figures are available.

Alun Michael: The location of each Regional Development Agency (RDA) and the number of inward investment successes and associated employment that each secured in 2004–05 is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 RDA Location (Head Office) 2004–05 Investments New jobs Safeguarded jobs 
		
		
			 Advantage West Midlands Birmingham 34 2,645 461 
			 East of England Development Agency(37) Histon 33 994 819 
			 East Midlands Development Agency Nottingham 37 1,238 1,371 
			 London Development Agency(38) London 77 1,882 359 
			 North West Regional Development Agency Warrington 54 3214 2,389 
			 ONE North East Newcastle 44 1,912 3,999 
			 South East England Development Agency Guildford 57 2,059 1,056 
			 South West of England Regional Development Agency Exeter 12 1,053 847 
			 Yorkshire Forward Leeds 35 2,107 569 
		
	
	(37) Inward Investment co-ordinated by East of England International based in Cambridge
	(38) Inward Investment co-ordinated by Think London also based in London
	UK Trade and Investment, not the RDAs, is tasked with developing international trade in the English regions, where it operates as the "international trades arm" for RDAs.

Strategic Nuclear Assets and Capabilities

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what he defines as the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear assets and capabilities.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 9 February 2006
	We have carried out no specific exercise covering civil nuclear power to define which assets and capabilities could be defined by the terms "strategic" or "non-strategic". However, consistent with our policy of Keeping the Nuclear Option Open, we have sought to maintain those skills, facilities and capabilities that might be required in the future.

Working Time Legislation

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those categories of personnel exempted from European working time legislation as not being classified as workers.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following categories of people are not regarded as "workers" under the European Working Time Directive (and the Working Time Regulations 1998 which implement the directive)—holders of political and elected office, voluntary workers and the self-employed. Domestic servants are also expressly excluded.

Asbestos

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the timescale for removing asbestos from buildings; what assessment he has made of where in the country is worst affected by asbestos; what penalties are in place for those who disregard the new asbestos regulations; and where the safe disposal of asbestos will take place.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) A Risk Assessment provided as Annex D(A) of the Consultative Document on "Proposals for Revised Asbestos Regulations and an approved Code of Practice" (CD205) contains an estimate that about one third of installed asbestos has already been removed and the remaining asbestos material would be removed over a 50-year period. This is an overall estimate and the amount removed will vary for particular products.
	(b) Asbestos is present in buildings widespread throughout Great Britain. Figures are not available on the worst affected areas.
	(c) The penalties for breach of the proposed new asbestos regulations are as follows:
	on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding the prescribed sum, currently £5,000; or
	on conviction on indictment an unlimited fine.
	In the case of licensing offences the penalty may be imprisonment for up to two years.
	There is also the possibility of prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the penalties are as follows:
	on summary conviction, a maximum fine of £20,000, or
	on conviction on indictment and an unlimited fine.
	For breach of an improvement or prohibition notice, similar penalties are available with the addition of imprisonment for up to six months on summary conviction or two years on conviction on indictment.
	(d) Asbestos waste goes to landfill. Regulation 16 of the 2004 Landfill Regulations sets out the criteria for land filling of asbestos waste and construction materials containing asbestos.

Benefit Payments

John McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on delays in payment of new benefit claims in (a) West Dumbartonshire and (b) the UK for (i) jobseeker's allowance, (ii) income support and (iii) incapacity benefit in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what his Department is doing to reduce the backlog of claimants waiting for their correct entitlement of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support and (c) incapacity benefit.

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Lesley Strathie
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking if he will make a statement on delays in the payment of new benefit claims in West Dumbartonshire, and the UK, for Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support and Incapacity Benefit in the last 12 months; and what his department is doing to reduce the backlog of claimants waiting for a decision on their claim for these benefits. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Claims for Income Support and Incapacity Benefit made in Great Britain were within our profile clearance times of 12 and 19 days respectively in December 2005. They were also within profile for the year to December 2005. Claims processed at the Clydebank Combined Social Security Office (CSSO) were also within these profiles.
	The time taken to clear a Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) claim (the Actual Average Clearance Time) increased between April and November 2005. In Clydebank CSSO, JSA clearance times were consistently within the planning assumption up until September resulting in a year to date figure that is also within the planning assumption.
	A JSA taskforce has been created to address fluctuating clearance times and set in place immediate recovery measures, whilst longer term and more fundamental issues are also being taken forward. More immediate measures include the more effective distribution of workloads amongst the Contact Centre network to improve performance.
	Building on the taskforce work, the Jobcentre Plus Chief Operating Officer will shortly launch a National Action Plan. The Action Plan is built around a mandatory series of "health checks", taking local managers through the whole end to end process, identifying key risk elements and, where a part of the process fails the health check, directing managers to appropriate good practice products and tool-kits.
	This will be strengthened by regular senior management attention particularly in this area. Where performance is below expectation, Districts and Contact Centres will be required to draw up their own individual recovery plans.
	I hope this is helpful.

Child Poverty

Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of children were living in families which received below 60 per cent. of median household income in (a) England, (b) each English region, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in 2004–05.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer on 6 February 2006
	The information requested is in the tables.
	
		Proportion of children living in households with less than60 per cent. of contemporary median household income—2001–02 to 2003–04
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Before housing costs  
			 England 20 
			 of which:  
			 North East 27 
			 North West and Merseyside 23 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 24 
			 East Midlands 22 
			 West Midlands 24 
			 Eastern 14 
			 London 23 
			 South East 13 
			 South West 17 
			 Wales 23 
			 Scotland 23 
			   
			 After housing costs  
			 England 29 
			 of which:  
			 North East 32 
			 North West and Merseyside 30 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 30 
			 East Midlands 27 
			 West Midlands 31 
			 Eastern 22 
			 London 38 
			 South East 21 
			 South West 27 
			 Wales 29 
			 Scotland 27 
		
	
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey
	
		Number of children living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income—2001–02 to 2003–04 Million
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Before housing costs  
			 England 2.2 
			 of which:  
			 North East 0.1 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 0.3 
			 East Midlands 0.2 
			 West Midlands 0.3 
			 Eastern 0.2 
			 London 0.4 
			 South East 0.2 
			 South West 0.2 
			 Wales 0.1 
			 Scotland 0.2 
			   
			 After housing costs  
			 England 3.1 
			 of which:  
			 North East 0.2 
			 North West and Merseyside 0.5 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 0.3 
			 East Midlands 0.3 
			 West Midlands 0.4 
			 Eastern 0.3 
			 London 0.6 
			 South East 0.4 
			 South West 0.3 
			 Wales 0.2 
			 Scotland 0.3 
		
	
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey

Consultants

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the main (a) technology suppliers, (b) consultancy firms and (c) strategy consultants engaged by the Department in each year since 1997; and how much was spent on each.

Margaret Hodge: Information is provided for the years since the Department for Work and Pensions was formed in 2001. The Department's information systems categorise expenditure into IS/IT suppliers and consultancy. The consultancy category will also contain strategy consultants but this expenditure could not be isolated without incurring disproportionate cost. The Department's expenditure with its top five IS/IT and consultancy suppliers by expenditure in 2004–05 and the expenditure with these firms in the three earlier years is provided in the following table. The figures provided relate to IS/IT and consultancy expenditure with these suppliers in the year, a number of suppliers provide both types of service to the Department.
	
		DWP expenditure with its top five IS/IT and consultancy suppliers since 2001–02 £ million
		
			 IS/IT suppliers 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 EDS 439.7 715.6 834.7 705.6 
			 BT 103.5 135.7 201.6 172.9 
			 IBM 0.2 19.4 59.3 52.0 
			 Computacentre 55.5 95.2 77.1 34.4 
			 Oracle Corporation 0 0 0.3 18.7 
			  
			 Consultancy 
			 ATOS Origin(40) 58.7 44.2 8.2 25.9 
			 Accenture 0 0 4.0 45.9 
			 Capgemini 2.3 3.5 7.5 17.9 
			 Booz Alien Hamilton 0 0 30.7 16.9 
			 PA Consulting 4.9 12.3 17.5 13.6 
		
	
	(40) ATOS Origin acquired SchlumbergerSema in September 2003, figures for 2001–02 relate to SchlumbergerSema.

Council Tax Benefits (West Midlands)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Coventry, South and (b) the West Midlands region are (i) entitled to council tax benefits and (ii) receiving council tax benefits; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The latest available information on unclaimed council tax benefit is in "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take Up in 2003/2004", a copy of which is in the Library.
	Information on council tax benefit claimants is not available by parliamentary constituency. As at August 2005 there were 488,200 households in the West Midlands and 32,100 households in the Coventry city council area receiving council tax benefit.

HIV

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidelines his Department has produced to assist employers in developing good practice concerning the employment of people with HIV.

Anne McGuire: My Department undertakes a wide range of publicity activity to raise awareness of employers' responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005. A series of recent campaigns has focused on the duties of employers and service providers. In particular, a major campaign aimed at small and medium-sized businesses was undertaken during 2004, involving direct mailings to over one million businesses. In the last financial year alone, around £3 million was spent on raising awareness of the Act.
	A new campaign, also aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, started in December 2005 and will run to May 2006. In this campaign, we are working closely with business, trade organisations and third parties such as accountants, as our research shows that small businesses are turning more and more to these sources of advice for information about legislation that affects their business.
	We are also working closely with key stakeholders, including organisations like the National Aids Trust and "Ensuring Positive Futures", to communicate messages about changes made by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. Our aim is to help ensure that employers, and employees, are aware that, for the purposes of the DDA, a person with HIV infection is treated as a disabled person from the point at which they have the infection, effectively from the point of diagnosis. Therefore, they have a legal right to be treated fairly, and to have reasonable adjustments made to accommodate them, in the workplace.
	The Department's awareness raising activity complements that of the Disability Rights Commission, which is sponsored by my Department. The Commission has a statutory duty to provide advice and guidance on rights and responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act. It publishes codes of practice and a range of guidance on the employment duties under the Act. These include examples relating to people who are infected with HIV.

Incapacity Benefit

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under what circumstances a person may receive incapacity benefit without having passed the personal capability assessment; how many such people there were in each of the last three years; and what the procedure is for the withdrawal of benefits from people deemed fit for work.

Anne McGuire: Claims to incapacity benefit are initially paid on the basis of supporting medical evidence until such time as the Own Occupation Test or the Personal Capacity Assessment is carried out. People with certain severe medical conditions and those in receipt of the highest rate care component of disability living allowance are exempt from the Personal Capability Assessment.
	The Personal Capability Assessment is usually carried out after a person has been incapable of work for 28 weeks. If they do not meet the threshold of incapacity, their benefit stops, form IB65 is issued which gives details of the decision, and entitlement to incapacity benefit ceases from the next available payment date. No one can continue to receive incapacity benefit if they fail to satisfy the Personal Capability Assessment.
	Form IB65 gives details of the disallowance and the scoring applied, and is accompanied by a notes section on what to do next and leaflet IB203 "Incapacity Benefit Getting Back to Work".

Incapacity Benefit

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with employers on his proposals to reform incapacity benefit, with particular reference to extending employment opportunities.

Margaret Hodge: The Government acknowledge that working with employers to expand employment opportunity is crucial for getting incapacity benefit claimants into work, and have recognised this in both "Health, Work and Well-Being" and the recent Green Paper "A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work".
	Each of the Pathways to Work Pilots has developed an Employer Engagement Strategy to establish a closer business relationship with employers to both influence their recruitment practice and to ensure that the support services understand employers' recruitment needs.
	We now look forward to the participation of employers in the formal consultation on the Green Paper, which will be run until 21 April 2006.

Pathways to Work

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many professionals are involved in condition management programmes in each of the Pathways to Work pilots, broken down by profession; what the annual cost of the work of healthcare professionals has been in each pilot; how many people in each pilot have been receiving incapacity benefit for (a) less than six months, (b) between six and 12 months and (c) 12 months or longer; and what assessment he has made of the implications for the number of healthcare workers needed if Pathways to Work is extended to all areas.

Margaret Hodge: Condition management programmes (CMPs) are jointly delivered by Jobcentre Plus and the NHS. Actual spend figures for the provision of services via health care professionals are not available. The funding agreed between individual districts and primary care trusts (PCTs) is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 District 2004–05 (£) 2005–06 (£) 
		
		
			 Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute 1,526,079 1,845,027 
			 Bridgend, Rhondda, Cynon and Taff 767,979 1,209,800 
			 Derbyshire 1,380,000 1,921,621 
			 Essex 2,126,516 3,029,072 
			 Gateshead 929,260 1,267,528 
			 East Lancashire 504,627 1,215,946 
			 Somerset 640,500 870,515 
		
	
	Information on how many people in each pilot have been receiving incapacity benefit for (a) less than six months (b) between six months and 12 months and (c) 12 months or longer, is in the following table.
	
		IB/SDA Claimaints in Pathways to Work areas, by duration May 2005
		
			 District Less than 6 months 6 months to 1 year 1 year or over Total 
		
		
			 Renfrewshire, Inverclyde,  Argyll and Bute 2.5 1.6 22.5 26.6 
			 Bridgend, Rhondda,  Cynon and Taff 2.7 1.8 30.0 34.5 
			 Derbyshire 3.9 2.7 39.7 46.3 
			 Essex 5.8 3.7 47.0 56.5 
			 Gateshead 2.3 1.4 21.0 24.7 
			 East Lancashire 3.2 2.1 29.0 34.2 
			 Somerset 1.4 1.0 12.4 14.8 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are shown in thousands and rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. Pathways to Work areas are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data.
	Delivery is not standardised in the pilot areas. The services within the CMPs are provided by a range of healthcare professionals, including: occupational therapists, mental health practitioners, GPs, physiotherapists, speech therapists, health psychologists, and nurses. The number and type of healthcare professionals varies between each pilot and is set locally.
	We will continue to work with the NHS to deliver this vital element of our Pathways to Work initiative. We will also seek to ensure our proposals deliver the pilots in innovative and more cost-effective ways as we roll out to the rest of the country. We have set out our proposals in the Green Paper "A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work" (Cm 6730) published on 24 January 2006.

Pathways to Work

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many general practitioner surgeries are participating in the Pathways to Work pilots; and in how many of them employment advisers have been placed.

Margaret Hodge: As part of the Pathways to Work approach Jobcentre Plus has been working closely with a wide range of NHS professionals in surgeries and other health settings to promote the health and employment message. Many non-governmental organisations have already placed employment advisers in general practitioner surgeries across the country and our proposals came from this experience.
	We want to build on the knowledge gained from these experiments and will be running pilots in five of the seven current Pathways to Work Pilot areas, where we will place employment advisers in general practitioner surgeries. We do not have information at this stage on the number of advisers we will place. However, two surgeries in the pilot areas are already using the services of employment advisers.
	The lessons learned from these pilots will help to ensure the success of our proposals recently published in our Green Paper; "A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work" to place an Employment Adviser service in GPs' surgeries.

Post Office Card Accounts

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which areas have been selected as pilots for the replacement of the Post Office card account.

James Plaskitt: DWP is not undertaking any pilots of a "replacement" for the Post Office card account. Rather we are undertaking some small-scale pilots to test various approaches to moving people from having their benefit or pension paid into a Post Office card account to payments into a bank account.
	The three DWP pilot schemes will involve:
	(a) Not promoting the option for some customers to open a Post Office card account when they make a new claim to benefit. The pilots will cover a small number of customers making a new claim to jobseeker's allowance in three Jobcentre Plus Offices in the North East of England and a small number of customers claiming retirement pension or pension credit nationwide.
	(b) Writing to some existing Post Office card accounts customers asking for bank account details. This will be a random sample of customers in England and Wales.
	(c) Converting some customers who have one benefit paid by Post Office card account and another already paid into a bank account. This will be a random sample of customers in England and Scotland.

Poverty

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the relationship between disability and poverty; and how many disabled people his Department defined as poor in (a) the UK and (b) Stroud constituency in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95–2003/04", available in the Library. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust estimates below regional level.

Poverty

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the number of (a) pensioners, (b) disabled people, (c) couples, (d) single people and (e) children living in (i) absolute poverty and (ii) relative poverty in each year since 1996–97; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: We are making sustained progress against poverty—41 of our 60 indicators now show an improving trend over time, compared with 35 last year. There are fewer children living in relative, absolute and persistent poverty (700,000 fewer children in relative low income than in 1997); there are fewer children in workless households (400,000 fewer than in 1997); there are fewer older people fewer living in relative, absolute and persistent poverty (700,000 fewer people of state pension age in relative low income and 2 million fewer in absolute low income compared with 1997) and for those living in deprived communities there have been improvements in employment, education and housing.
	The information requested is in the tables.
	
		Absolute numbers of disabled adults and children with incomes below 60 per cent. median AHC Million
		
			  Children Adults 
		
		
			 1996–97 0.3 2.4 
			 1997-/98 0.3 2.5 
			 1998-/99 0.3 2.5 
			 1999–2000 0.2 2.2 
			 2000–01 0.2 2.0 
			 2001–02 0.1 1.7 
			 2002–03 0.1 1.5 
			 2003–04 0.1 1.4 
		
	
	
		Absolute numbers of disabled adults and children with incomes below 60 per cent. median BHC Million
		
			  Children Adults 
		
		
			 1996–97 0.2 1.7 
			 1997–98 0.2 1.8 
			 1998–99 0.2 1.9 
			 1999–2000 0.1 1.6 
			 2000–01 0.1 1.6 
			 2001–02 0.1 1.3 
			 2002–03 0.1 1.2 
			 2003–04 0.1 1.1 
		
	
	
		Relative numbers of disabled adults and children with incomes below 60 per cent. median AHC Million
		
			  Children Adults 
		
		
			 1996–97 0.3 2.4 
			 1997–98 0.3 2.6 
			 1998–99 0.3 2.7 
			 1999–2000 0.2 2.6 
			 2000–01 0.3 2.7 
			 2001–02 0.2 2.6 
			 2002–03 0.2 2.5 
			 2003–04 0.2 2.3 
		
	
	
		Relative numbers of disabled adults and children with incomes below 60 per cent. median BHC Million
		
			  Children Adults 
		
		
			 1996–97 0.2 1.7 
			 1997–98 0.2 1.9 
			 1998–99 0.2 2.1 
			 1999–2000 0.2 2.0 
			 2000–01 0.2 2.1 
			 2001–02 0.1 2.1 
			 2002–03 0.2 2.1 
			 2003–04 0.1 2.0 
		
	
	
		Absolute numbers of couples and singles with incomes below 60 per cent. median AHC Million
		
			  Singles Couples 
		
		
			 1996–97 4.7 2.4 
			 1997–98 4.3 2.3 
			 1998–99 4.1 2.2 
			 1999–2000 3.8 2.0 
			 2000–01 3.2 1.8 
			 2001–02 2.8 1.5 
			 2002–03 2.6 1.4 
			 2003–04 2.6 1.4 
		
	
	
		Absolute numbers of couples and singles with incomes below 60 per cent. median BHC Million
		
			  Singles Couples 
		
		
			 1996–97 3.0 2.0 
			 1997–98 2.9 1.9 
			 1998–99 2.7 1.9 
			 1999–2000 2.5 1.7 
			 2000–01 2.4 1.5 
			 2001–02 2.1 1.3 
			 2002–03 1.2 1.2 
			 2003–04 1.9 1.2 
		
	
	
		Relative numbers of couples and singles with incomes below 60 per cent. median AHC Million
		
			  Singles Couples 
		
		
			 1996–97 4.7 2.4 
			 1997–98 4.4 2.4 
			 1998–99 4.4 2.3 
			 1999–2000 4.5 2.3 
			 2000–01 4.2 2.3 
			 2001–02 4.0 2.3 
			 2002–03 4.0 2.3 
			 2003–04 3.9 2.3 
		
	
	
		Relative numbers of couples and singles with incomes below 60 per cent. median BHC Million
		
			  Singles Couples 
		
		
			 1996–97 3.0 2.0 
			 1997–98 3.0 2.0 
			 1998–99 3.0 2.1 
			 1999–2000 3.1 2.0 
			 2000–01 3.0 1.9 
			 2001–02 3.0 2.0 
			 2002–03 3.1 2.0 
			 2003–04 3.0 2.0 
		
	
	
		Absolute numbers of pensioners with incomes below 60 per cent. median Million
		
			  BHC AHC 
		
		
			 1996–97 2.2 2.8 
			 1997–98 2.2 2.6 
			 1998–99 2.1 2.4 
			 1999–2000 1.9 2.0 
			 2000–01 1.6 1.6 
			 2001–02 1.5 1.2 
			 2002–03 1.2 1.0 
			 2003–04 1.1 0.9 
		
	
	
		Relative numbers of pensioners with incomes below 60 per cent. median Million
		
			  BHC AHC 
		
		
			 1996–97 2.2 2.8 
			 1997–98 2.3 2.7 
			 1998–99 2.4 2.7 
			 1999–2000 2.3 2.6 
			 2000–01 2.2 2.5 
			 2001–02 2.3 2.3 
			 2002–03 2.3 2.3 
			 2003–04 2.2 2.0 
		
	
	
		Absolute numbers of children with incomes below 60 per cent. median Million
		
			  BHC AHC 
		
		
			 1996–97 3.2 4.2 
			 1997–98 3.0 4.0 
			 1998–99 2.8 3.9 
			 1999–2000 2.4 3.6 
			 2000–01 2.0 3.0 
			 2001–02 1.6 2.5 
			 2002–03 1.5 2.2 
			 2003–04 1.4 2.2 
		
	
	
		Relative numbers of children with incomes below 60 per cent. median Million
		
			  BHC AHC 
		
		
			 1996–97 3.2 4.2 
			 1997–98 3.1 4.1 
			 1998–99 3.1 4.1 
			 1999–2000 3.0 4.1 
			 2000–01 2.7 3.8 
			 2001–02 2.6 3.7 
			 2002–03 2.6 3.6 
			 2003–04 2.6 3.5 
		
	
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey (FRS).

Drug Offences

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of people arrested tested positive for (a) opiates, (b) cocaine and (c) any drug at the time of their arrest in each of the last five years.

Charles Clarke: We cannot currently provide this information on a national basis, or for the specified years. However, some indication is provided by research published by the Home Office in 2004 from the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Programme (NEW-ADAM).
	This provided information on the proportion of arrested persons testing positive for drugs who had voluntarily agreed to an interview and to provide a urine specimen for analysis. The research was undertaken in selected large custody suites in 16 police force areas between 1999 and 2001 involving approximately 3,000 arrestees, 95 per cent. of whom agreed to provide a urine sample.
	The research showed that for those arrestees voluntarily providing a urine sample, (a) 31 per cent. tested positive for opiates (b) 22 per cent. for cocaine and (c) 69 per cent. for any drug excluding alcohol.
	The NEW-ADAM survey programme has been replaced by a new, continuous, nationally-representative Arrestee Survey. Results from the first year of the survey, covering interviews with about 7,500 arrestees in 60 custody suites from around the country conducted between October 2003 and September 2004, will be published shortly. The survey is on-going and will provide information on trends in drug use among all arrestees in the future.
	The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) was introduced by this Government to break the links between drugs and crime. The intensive form of the programme operates in 97 areas with a history of high levels of drug related crime. Individuals charged with a range of trigger offences, identified through research to be closely linked to drug misuse, are drug tested for specified class A drugs.
	New provisions contained in the Drugs Act 2005 were successfully implemented in three police force areas on 1 December 2005. Testing on arrest now becomes an alternative to testing on charge for those adults arrested for a "trigger offence", enabling adults misusing specified class A drugs to be identified earlier in their contact with the criminal justice system, so that they may be steered into treatment and away from crime as soon as possible. Those testing positive will be required to attend an assessment of their drug use. The provisions will be rolled out to the remaining intensive areas in England on 31 March 2006.

Drug Offences

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for dealing in (a) cannabis, (b) heroin and (c) cocaine in each year since 1993.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 2 February 2006
	The information requested is contained in the table.
	
		Number of persons sentenced to immediate custody for a period of exactly 14 years for the offence of dealing(42) in cannabis, heroin and cocaine, in England and Wales—1994 to 2004 Offenders
		
			  Cannabis Heroin Cocaine 
		
		
			 1994 — 2 — 
			 1995 — 2 1 
			 1996 — 1 — 
			 1997 — 3 — 
			 1998 — — — 
			 1999 — 1 — 
			 2000 — 2 2 
			 2001 — — 3 
			 2002 — 3 1 
			 2003 — — 2 
			 2004 — 1 1 
		
	
	(42) Interpreted as supplying or offering to supply or being concerned in supplying or being concerned in offering to supply and having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply.
	Source:
	RDS NOMS 2 February 2006

Drugs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policies his Department has developed to deal with the flow of illegal drugs into the UK from Afghanistan.

Paul Goggins: The Government's Drug Strategy aims to reduce the harms caused by all illicit drugs. It focuses on the most dangerous drugs—heroin, crack and cocaine—the most damaged communities and the problematic drug users who cause the most harm to themselves and others. The Strategy takes a holistic approach which complements efforts to reduce the supply of drugs with action to diminish demand.
	The White Paper, "One Step Ahead, a 21st Century Strategy to defeat organised crime" (Cm 6167) set out our plans for tackling organised crime, of which Class A drugs trafficking forms a part. They are based on the principle of reducing harm and include the establishment of the Serious Organised Crime Agency with effect from 1 April.

Drugs

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the worth of the UK heroin market.

Charles Clarke: In 2000 the Home Office published "Sizing the UK Market for Illicit Drugs", www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/occ74-drugs.pdf, which provides estimates of the value of the UK market for illicit drugs in 1998. This estimates that the total value of the UK market for heroin in 1998 was £2,313 million.

Racial and Religious Hatred

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition he uses of recklessness in the context of religious hatred.

Paul Goggins: The Government's Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, as amended by Parliament on 31 January, does not contain a "recklessness" provision. The proposed offence of incitement to religious hatred is now limited to words or behaviour that are intended to stir up religious hatred.

"Fuel for Living" Booklet

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost has been of the development of the "Fuel for Living" booklet; how many copies of the booklet will be published; at what cost; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The cost of developing the "Fuel for Living" recipe booklet was £27,000. One million copies of the booklet have been produced at a cost of £58,500.
	The "Fuel for Living" recipe booklet is part of the 5 A DAY campaign, which provides information and practical advice to improve the diet. The booklet targets the young independent group of 16 to 24-year-olds, who have a lower than average intake of fruit and vegetables so there is a need to provide information and help to improve their diet.

"Health Reform in England; Update and Next Steps"

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in respect of the proposed NHS reforms outlined in "Health Reform in England; update and next steps", whether practice based contracting will apply to all care or only to non-hospital care.

Liam Byrne: The only services that are outside the scope of practice based commissioning for 2006–07 are services that are commissioned regionally or nationally and core general practitioner services.

Adverse Drug Reactions

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient reports of adverse drug reactions have been received (a) online and (b) through a yellow card form in each month since patients were permitted to report adverse drug reactions directly.

Jane Kennedy: Reports of suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines (CHM) through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the yellow card scheme.
	Following recommendations from an independent review of access to the yellow card scheme, patients and their representatives are now encouraged to report suspected adverse drug reactions directly to the MHRA and CHM. Direct reporting from patients was launched as a small-scale pilot in January 2005 and expanded to a United Kingdom-wide pilot in October 2005. Patients are able submit reports both electronically and via a purpose designed paper yellow card.
	The table shows the total number of patient adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports received each month between 17 January 2005 and 31 December 2005, along with a breakdown of the number of paper and electronic internet reports.
	
		Number of ADR reports received from patients between 17 January and 31 December 2005
		
			 Received month (2005) Total Paper yellow card Internet yellow card 
		
		
			 January 31 3 28 
			 February 58 30 28 
			 March 70 42 28 
			 April 82 48 34 
			 May 63 31 32 
			 June 67 33 34 
			 July 60 28 32 
			 August 129 27 102 
			 September 73 27 46 
			 October(50) 69 22 47 
			 November 79 38 41 
			 December 169 134 35 
		
	
	(50) UK-wide direct patient reporting was launched on 25 October 2005
	It is important to note that the submission of a suspected ADR report does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the drug. Many factors have to be taken into account in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication and the underlying disease.

Alcohol Consumption

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the effects of drinking alcohol (a) socially and (b) alone; and what assessment she has made of the different effects of drinking particular alcoholic drinks.

Caroline Flint: The Department has not made an assessment of the effects of drinking alcohol socially versus alone or of the different effects of drinking particular alcoholic drinks.
	"Sensible Drinking: Report of an inter-departmental working group (1995)" sets out the Department's guidance on alcohol consumption and suggests:
	A maximum intake of two to three units per day for women and three to four for men, with two alcohol free days after heavy drinking; continued alcohol consumption at the upper level is not advised.
	The Department keeps the evidence of the harmful effects of alcohol under ongoing review to ensure messages are accurate and up to date.

Alimta

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the availability of Alimta on the NHS.

Jane Kennedy: Alimta is licensed for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma and can be prescribed across the national health Service for those patients who fit the licensed criteria with the agreement of the clinicians and primary care trusts (PCTs) concerned.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is appraising Alimta for the treatment of mesothelioma and guidance is expected in October 2006.
	Funding for licensed treatments should not be withheld because guidance from NICE is unavailable. In these circumstances, we expect PCTs to take full account of available evidence when reaching funding decisions. This is confirmed in "Health Service Circular 1999/176", which asks NHS bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE is not available at the time the treatment or technology first became available.

Chiropody

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress her Department is making towards establishing high-street drop-in centres for chiropody.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 7 February 2006
	The White Paper, Our health, "our care, our say", sets out the future direction for healthcare, including access to allied health professions (AHPs). The implementation will address additional access for AHP services including chiropody.

Citizens Juries

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions her Department consulted citizens' juries on departmental policies in the last five years; in how many of those consultations the recommendations of the citizens' jury differed from existing departmental policy; and on how many occasions departmental policy was changed to reflect the recommendations of the citizens' jury.

Liam Byrne: Officials have not reported using citizen juries during the period specified. However, the Department does use a wide range of consultation methods to inform policy-making. For example, the recent consultation exercise leading up to the publication of the White Paper "Our health, our care, our say" involved a number of deliberative events which brought together ordinary members of the public to debate policy options. The outputs of these discussions strongly influenced the policy choices put forward in the final document.

Compensation Claims

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to public funds has been of claims for compensation from the NHS in each year since 1998.

Jane Kennedy: Information requested on the cost to public funds for all types of compensation claims from the national health service is not identifiable from NHS annual expenditure returns. Compensation payments made by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) are, however, identifiable and are shown in the following table.
	
		Compensation paid by NHS Litigation Authority by scheme
		
			 £000 
			  1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts 229 4,783 22,521 (51)201,869 175,277 293,384 329,412 
			 Existing Liabilities Scheme 55,926 264,584 (51)842,093 343,242 269,345 128,071 169,414 
			 Ex-Regional Health Authority Scheme 13,921 7,989 7,372 3,832 1,562 1,059 4,068 
			 Total (52)70,076 (52)277,356 (52)871,986 (52)548,943 446,184 422,514 502,894 
			 
			 Liabilities for Third Parties Scheme(52) n/a 31 551 3,112 14,480 (53)7,395 21,280 
			 Property Expenses Scheme n/a 359 429 1,931 6,866 2,735 3,839 
			 Total 0 390 980 5,043 21,346 10,130 25,119 
		
	
	(51) Amount reimbursed to trusts as part of the "call-in" and included within Existing Liabilities Scheme/Clinical Negligence Scheme for trusts payments.
	(52) NHS bodies liable for an "excess" element not included in these totals.
	(53) The apparent drop in payments under the Liabilities to Third Parties Scheme in 2003–04 was due to a change in invoicing policy by the NHSLA.

Dentistry

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to increase access to NHS dentistry in North Yorkshire; and how many additional places have been made available since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 27 June 2005
	In September 2004, there were 794,177 patients registered with a national health service dentists in the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire strategic health authority (SHA) area, compared with 906,871 in September 1997.
	In 2004–05, £1.3 million of access money for NHS dental services was made available to primary care trusts (PCTs) in the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA area. The four PCTs within the North Yorkshire region are using this money to make available an additional 50,000 patient registrations.
	Four Polish dentists are providing services to NHS dental patients in the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale PCT and a further nine internationally-recruited dentists are working in the Selby and York PCT area. Furthermore, 0.9 whole time equivalent dentists have returned to work under the "Keeping in Touch" scheme.

Disabled People (Independent Living)

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the outcome was of the consultation referred to in Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People on whether people should have a right to request not to live in residential or nursing care; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 7 February 2006
	Consultation on whether people should have the right to request not to live in residential or nursing care was included in the adult social care Green Paper "Independence Well-being and Choice: our vision for the future of social care for adults in England" which ran between 21 March and 28 July 2005.
	An analysis of this consultation was published on 19 October 2005 and is available in the Library.

Drug Costs

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many fees have been paid to pharmacists for each price category of (a) amlodipine, (b) simvastatin and (c) lisinopril (i) in each month of the last three financial years and (ii) to date in 2005–06; what the value was of each fee; and what the total payment was for each month for each price category of each drug;
	(2)  when (a) amlodipine, (b) simvastatin and (c) lisinopril went out of patent;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the generic rates payable for (a) amlodipine, (b) simvastatin and (c) lisinopril since each drug went out of patent;
	(4)  what steps she plans to take to ensure that when drugs are out of patent fees are paid at a generic rate rather than a branded rate; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Data on the number of prescriptions and costs is recorded on a quarterly rather than monthly basis and is only currently available for the period up to September 2005. Table one, provides the number of items prescribed and their net ingredient cost for each of the medicines in each quarter. The drug tariff prices for each of these medicines during the period in question are provided in table two.
	Data held by the Department records the following expiry dates for amlodipine, simvastatin and lisinopril:
	Amlodipine—March 2004
	Simvastatin—May 2003
	Lisinopril—October 2002
	The reimbursement prices for generic simvastatin and lisinopril followed the usual procedure and timeframe, moving from category C, reimbursement price based on a brand, to category A, reimbursement price based on a basket of generic suppliers, when the generic became available. However, it became apparent that there were significant differences between these generic reimbursement prices and the prices at which they could be purchased by community pharmacy contractors and dispensing doctors. These differences would normally be recovered by a discount inquiry, but these medicines entered the market after the last inquiry. Therefore, following a consultation, the Government reduced the prices of these medicines on two occasions; the first with effect from 1 December 2003 and the second with effect from September 2004.
	Following patent expiry of amlodipine, the Department followed the usual procedure for setting a generic reimbursement price moving from category C to category A. However, the entry of amlodipine into category M was delayed 1 October 2005 by supply side instability.
	The Department has already taken considerable action to ensure that off patent medicines are reimbursed appropriately. Following an unexpected increase in prices in 1999, the Department introduced a short term maximum price scheme whilst undertaking a wider consultation on the arrangements for the future supply and reimbursement of national health service generic medicines. Taking account of responses to this consultation, as part introduced a new category M into the drug tariff in April 2005 based on a new mechanism for setting reimbursement prices of commonly prescribed generics. The prices of category M medicines now reflect the average manufacturers' market prices after discount, but leave a margin of unrecovered discount as part of pharmacy funding. The prices for category M are recalculated quarterly.
	
		Table 1: Number of prescription items and net ingredient cost of Amlodipine, Lisinopril and Simvastatin dispensed in the community in England. Quarterly data
		
			  2002 2003 
			  April-June July-September October-December January-March April-June July-September October-December 
		
		
			 Number of prescription items (thousand) 
			 Amlodipine 1,695.7 1,728.9 1,790.3 1,747.0 1,830.4 1,872.9 1,943.4 
			 Lisinopril 1,558.5 1,578.3 1,612.9 1,550.8 1,606.6 1,634.2 1,669.3 
			 Simvastatin 1,712.9 1,859.6 2,005.6 2,043.2 2,239.8 2,435.7 2,652.7 
			 Net ingredient cost (£ thousand) 
			 Amlodipine 34,758.0 35,400.4 36,683.9 35,655.5 37,214.3 40,500.6 43,337.6 
			 Lisinopril 21,925.4 22,288.1 22,871.3 21,039.9 20,866.6 20,209.5 18,254.5 
			 Simvastatin 61,003.7 66,808.5 72,698.8 74,423.1 81,742.0 81,890.8 71,024.2 
		
	
	
		
			  2004 2005 
			  January-March April-June July-September October-December January-March April-June July-September 
		
		
			 Number of prescription items (thousand) 
			 Amlodipine 1,934.5 2,010.8 2,073.1 2,173.5 2,138.5 2,287.9 2,354.5 
			 Lisinopril 1,639.6 1,684.3 1,717.9 1,763.6 1,694.6 1,788.0 1,808.4 
			 Simvastatin 2,756.3 3,018.4 3,297.9 3,608.4 3,623.1 3,966.3 4,272.2 
			 Net ingredient cost (£ thousand) 
			 Amlodipine 42,947.8 42,188.3 40,534.5 37,345.3 35,521.5 36,328.2 36,671.9 
			 Lisinopril 15,698.4 16,077.2 14,703.7 11,705.8 11,192.3 5,965.0 5,365.3 
			 Simvastatin 63,548.2 69,749.3 66,109.1 51,471.9 51,814.6 20,572.1 15,940.2 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Reimbursement prices (pence)
		
			  2002 
			 Drug Pack April May June July August September October November December 
		
		
			 Amlodipine 5mg Tablets 28 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 
			 Amlodipine l0mg Tablets 28 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 
			 Lisinopril 2.5mg Tablets 28 626 626 626 626 626 626 626 626 626 
			 Lisinopril 5mg Tablets 28 786 786 786 786 786 786 786 786 786 
			 Lisinopril l0mg Tablets 28 970 970 970 970 970 970 970 970 970 
			 Lisinopril 20mg Tablets 28 1,097 1,097 1,097 1,097 1,097 1,097 1,097 1,097 1,097 
			 Simvastatin l0mg Tablets 28 1,803 1803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 
			 Simvastatin 20mg Tablets 28 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2969 
			 Simvastatin 40mg Tablets 28 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 
			 Simvastatin 80mg Tablets 28 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 
		
	
	
		
			  2003 
			 Drug Pack January February March April May June July August September October November December 
		
		
			 Amlodipine 5mg Tablets 28 1,185 1,185 1,5 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,185 1,304 1,304 1,304 1,304 1,304 
			 Amlodipine l0mg Tablets 28 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,770 1,947 1,947 1,947 1,947 1,947 
			 Lisinopril 2.5mg Tablets 28 616 608 595 582 571 571 560 550 539 526 514 375 
			 Lisinopril 5mg Tablets 28 773 764 752 736 720 720 708 696 670 666 649 495 
			 Lisinopril l0mg Tablets 28 954 942 930 914 898 898 884 860 846 840 823 677 
			 Lisinopril 20mg Tablets 28 1,079 1,066 1,054 1,035 1,012 1,012 998 978 957 951 936 750 
			 Simvastatin l0mg Tablets 28 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,803 1,659 1,630 1,518 1,456 1,199 
			 Simvastatin 20mg Tablets 28 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,692 2,614 2,421 2,307 1,600 
			 Simvastatin 40mg Tablets 28 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,809 2,774 2,681 2,620 2,100 
			 Simvastatin 80mg Tablets 28 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,969 2,908 2,908 2,877 2,877 
		
	
	
		
			  2004 
			 Drug Pack January February March April May June July August September October November December 
		
		
			 Amlodipine 5mg Tablets 28 1,304 1,304 1,304 1,304 1,304 1,304 1,211 1,304 1,092 1,056 1,004 1,284 
			 Amlodipine l0mg Tablets 28 1,947 1,947 1,947 1,947 1,947 1,947 1,792 1,47 1,583 1,534 1,445 926 
			 Lisinopril 2.5mg Tablets 28 375 375 375 375 375 375 375 375 289 289 289 289 
			 Lisinopril 5mg Tablets 28 495 495 495 495 495 495 495 495 347 347 347 347 
			 Lisinopril l0mg Tablets 28 677 677 677 677 677 677 677 677 404 404 404 404 
			 Lisinopril 20mg Tablets 28 750 750 750 750 750 750 750 750 549 549 549 549 
			 Simvastatin l0mg Tablets 28 1,199 1,199 1,199 1,199 1,199 1,199 1,199 1,199 578 578 578 578 
			 Simvastatin 20mg Tablets 28 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 780 780 780 780 
			 Simvastatin 40mg Tablets 28 2,100 2,100 2,100 2,100 2,100 2,100 2,100 2,100 1,560 1,560 1,560 1,560 
			 Simvastatin 80mg Tablets 28 2,877 2,77 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,877 
		
	
	
		
			  2005 
			 Drug Pack January February March April May June July August September October November December 
		
		
			 Amlodipine 5mg Tablets 28 870 962 889 889 889 889 889 889 889 548 548 548 
			 Amlodipine l0mg Tablets 28 1,233 1,362 1,225 1,225 1,225 1,225 1,225 1,225 1,225 796 796 796 
			 Lisinopril 2.5mg Tablets 28 289 289 289 176 176 176 176 176 176 130 130 130 
			 Lisinopril 5mg Tablets 28 347 347 347 198 198 198 198 198 198 155 155 155 
			 Lisinopril l0mg Tablets 28 404 404 404 178 178 178 178 178 178 198 198 198 
			 Lisinopril 20mg Tablets 28 549 549 549 243 243 243 243 243 243 268 268 268 
			 Simvastatin 10mg Tablets 28 578 578 578 212 212 212 212 212 212 175 175 175 
			 Simvastatin 20mg Tablets 28 780 780 780 226 226 226 226 226 226 179 179 179 
			 Simvastatin 40mg Tablets 28 1,560 1,560 1,560 487 487 487 487 487 487 414 414 414 
			 Simvastatin 80mg Tablets 28 2,877 2,877 2,877 2,679 2,679 2,679 2,679 2,679 2,679 2,572 2,572 2,572 
		
	
	
		
			   2006 
			 Drug Pack January February 
		
		
			 Amlodipine 5mg Tablets 28 540 540 
			 Amlodipine l0mg Tablets 28 782 782 
			 Lisinopril 2.5mg Tablets 28 130 130 
			 Lisinopril 5mg Tablets 28 154 154 
			 Lisinopril l0mg Tablets 28 198 198 
			 Lisinopril 20mg Tablets 28 268 268 
			 Simvastatin 10mg Tablets 28 175 175 
			 Simvastatin 20mg Tablets 28 171 171 
			 Simvastatin 40mg Tablets 28 389 389 
			 Simvastatin 80mg Tablets 28 2,529 2,529

Elderly Care Provision

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that elderly patients in (a) hospitals and (b) nursing and residential homes are afforded privacy for personal care.

Liam Byrne: "Standards for Better Health" already describes the level of care that national health service organisations are expected to meet, including care that is supportive of patient privacy. The standards are a key part of the performance assessment undertaken by the Healthcare Commission of all health care organisations.
	Similarly, in social care settings, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) inspects regulated care services against the national minimum standards described in "Care Homes for Older People—National Minimum Standards". Privacy and dignity are covered explicitly by these standards.
	Both the Healthcare Commission and CSCI have statutory powers to take action where the relevant standards are not being met.

Genetic Testing

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been undertaken (a) by the Medical Research Council and (b) through her Department's research and development budget for the NHS into developing genetic testing.

Jane Kennedy: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology.
	The MRC has a genetics portfolio and spends some £80 million per year on this area of research. The portfolio has a focus on the identification of disease susceptibility genes, on involvement and interplay of the environment and genes in disease, on analysis of gene expression in disease, and on uncovering disease biomarkers. Outputs from any of this research may contribute to the development of genetic diagnostic tools.
	The genetics White Paper, "Our inheritance, our future—realising the potential of genetics in the NHS", published in June 2003, announced that the Department would invest up to £4 million to fund pharmacogenetic research on existing medicines. Pharmacogenetics involves the tailoring of medication choice or dose to a patient's genetic make-up, usually assessed with the aid of genetic testing. The £4 million was awarded to six research projects selected in 2004.
	The five genetics knowledge parks (GKPs), jointly funded by the Department and the Department for Trade and Industry, are undertaking research that includes an examination of the feasibility and ethical and legal implications of testing for sudden cardiac death syndrome, and for the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. The GKPs' work programmes also feature genetic testing for familial hypercholesterolaemia and the clinical and psychological impact of genetic testing on people being helped to give up smoking.
	The National Genetics Reference Laboratories (NGRL) are developing new technologies to meet service needs and exploring the service configurations needed for pharmacogenetic testing in the national health service. Developing quality assurance in genetic testing is part of the NGRL remit, and one important aspect of this is the development of appropriate reference and control reagents.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. The NHS has reported spending from this funding in support of genetics research as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Spending in support of genetics research 
		
		
			 2003–04 28 
			 2004–05 31 
		
	
	Details of individual projects, including those to do with the development and use of genetic tests, can be found on the national research register on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/research.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will postpone any proposals to merge ambulance trusts arising from the current consultation until the urgent care service strategy described in paragraph 4.51 of the White Paper, "Our Health, Our Care, Our Say", is developed.

Liam Byrne: Organisational reconfiguration does not preclude ambulance trusts being involved in the development and provision of integrated urgent care services nor does it prejudge their role in providing urgent care services.
	Primary care trusts will continue to commission urgent care services, including ambulance services, and we expect ambulance trusts to continue to provide services tailored to particular localities within their area, whether or not ambulance trusts are merged. Larger ambulance trusts, if established, would have the strategic capacity and flexibility of resources to help them play an even greater part in working in partnership with other health and social care agencies to develop urgent care services that meet the needs of local people.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the national approach to risk management described in paragraph 4.42 of the White Paper, "Our Health, Our Care, Our Say", is expected to be placed on a statutory basis.

Liam Byrne: This decision has not yet been taken.

Healthcare Commission

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what complaints procedure is in operation for complaints against the Healthcare Commission;
	(2)  how many complaints against the Healthcare Commission were received in 2005.

Jane Kennedy: The Chairman of the Healthcare Commission has confirmed that current advice, which is published on its website, is that anyone wishing to complain about the Commission should contact a named member of staff. When complaints are received in this way they are referred to the section of the Health Commission concerned to respond to. The Health Commission's chief executive responds to complaints addressed directly to her. Central guidance for its staff on dealing with complaints made against it is being currently developed.
	The Chairman has also confirmed that information on the number of complaints made is not held centrally.

Healthy Lifestyle Schemes

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on schemes the Department is funding to promote healthy lifestyles in people aged 50 years and over.

Caroline Flint: A number of initiatives are under way to promote healthy lifestyles in people aged 50 and over. As part of the partnerships for older peoples project (POPP) initiative the Department has awarded funding of over £39 million to 19 local authority-led partnerships across England to improve health and well being outcomes for older people. Each pilot site, which will be operational by 1 May 2006 will develop, test and evaluate, a range of different ways of providing more support and care for local older people, which will enable them to have a better quality of life and remain in control of their own lives for as long as possible. Several of the pilot sites include health promotion activities as part of their wide-ranging projects. For example:
	The cross-Government leaflet, "Are you over 50?", is being revised and will be available April 2006. The emphasis is very much on active ageing.
	Nine local exercise action pilots (LEAP) are under way across England, jointly funded by the Department, the Countryside Agency and Sport England. The pilots are testing different community approaches to increasing physical activity in deprived areas. Three of the pilots based at Ashton, Leigh and Wigan, Nottingham city and West of Cornwall Primary Care Trust have a specific focus on older people.

HIV/AIDS

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to increase access to HIV (a) testing and (b) treatment among African communities living in England; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Through the African HIV Policy Network (AHPN) and partner organizations, the Department has funded the campaign "It's Better to Know" aimed specifically at increasing awareness of HIV testing among people from African communities living in England. We are working with the AHPN to develop a further HIV awareness raising campaign to be taken forward during 2006. We fund the African AIDS helpline, which provides information in a variety of languages. We have also funded a pilot project exploring the feasibility of providing additional HIV testing facilities outside of the genito-urinary medicine setting. This pilot is currently being evaluated.

HIV/AIDS

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to increase awareness of HIV among (a) heterosexual and (b) homosexual males.

Caroline Flint: Awareness of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, will be addressed through a new sexual health media campaign, announced as part of the "Choosing Health" White Paper, to modernise and transform sexual health in England. The campaign will focus on the risks of unprotected sex and the benefits of using condoms to avoid the risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV.
	A major aim for the campaign is normalising condom use and implicitly this will contribute to reducing the risk of HIV. The campaign is additional and complementary to, existing HIV Awareness campaigns for those most at risk, in partnership with key voluntary sector organisations.
	HIV awareness for men who have sex with men is delivered by the Terrence Higgins Trust in an ongoing targeted programme of information and selected media campaigns.

Mental Health

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of mental health services in Buckinghamshire were funded by (a) Wycombe Primary Care Trust, (b) Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust, (c) Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust and (d) Buckinghamshire county council in each year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: Revenue allocations are made direct to primary care trusts who determine their expenditure on services according to local priorities.
	This information requested is not centrally held by the Department However, information about spend on mental health services is available from "The 2004–05 National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services" which is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/52/96/04115296.pdf.

NHS Earnings

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average NHS earnings were in real terms at today's prices for (a) consultants, (b) general practitioners, (c) dentists and (d) nurses employed in the NHS in each of the last 30 years.

Liam Byrne: The available information is shown in the following tables. Tables 1 and 2 show the average earnings of consultants and qualified nurses band on national health service earnings survey data uplifted to 2004–05 prices. This data is not available prior to 1998–99 and has been collated biannually since 2000–01. Table 3 shows that intended average net income for general practitioners set by the review body doctors and dentists review for the years since 1974–75 in 2004–05 prices. Table 4 shows the estimated average general dental service (GDS) net income for dentists with a reasonable GDS commitment since 1997–98. Figures are not available on a comparable basis for previous years.
	Estimated average earnings in real terms for consultants, qualified nurses and midwives earnings in England.
	
		Table 1: Consultant-estimated average earnings—England
		
			 £ 
			  Average earnings 
			  Cash terms 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1998–99 65,600 75,100 
			 1999–2000 69,700 78,300 
			 2000–01 71,900 79,700 
			 2001–02 (61)— (61)— 
			 2002–03 83,700 87,700 
			 2003–04 (61)— (61)— 
			 2004–05 94,700 94,700 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Qualified nurses and midwives-estimated average earnings—England
		
			 £ 
			  Average earnings 
			  Cash terms 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1998–99 19,600 22,400 
			 1999–2000 21,400 24,000 
			 2000–01 22,600 25,000 
			 2001–02 (61)— (61)— 
			 2002–03 24,500 25,700 
			 2003–04 (61)— (61)— 
			 2004–05 26,400 26,400 
		
	
	(61) No figures are available for these years.
	Notes:
	1. The earnings survey is based on a sample of approximately 50 per cent. of NHS trusts, derived.
	2. Earnings figures are based on monthly payments in August, multiplied by 12 to give annual equivalent amounts.
	3. The earnings survey is conducted on a biennial basis from 2000 onwards, hence no figures are available 2001 or 2003.
	4. Earnings figures are rounded to the nearest hundred pounds.
	5. 2004 equivalent earnings are calculated using HM Treasury Gross Domestic Product Deflator Index.
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre NHS Staff Earnings Survey
	
		Table 3: Intended Average Net Income for General Practitioners, 1974–75 to 2003–04, Great Britain
		
			 £ 
			  IANI 
			  cash terms In 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1974–75 6,286 41,801 
			 1975–76 8,735 46,320 
			 1976–77 8,963 41,911 
			 1977–78 9,313 38,328 
			 1978–79 12,146 45,034 
			 1979–80 14,284 45,335 
			 1980–81 16,955 45,536 
			 1981–82 17,970 44,067 
			 1982–83 18,990 43,494 
			 1983–84 20,288 44,426 
			 1984–85 21,815 45,395 
			 1985–86 23,212 45,823 
			 1986–87 24,670 47,197 
			 1987–88 26,840 48,640 
			 1988–89 28,800 48,779 
			 1989–90 31,105 49,184 
			 1990–91 33,630 49,318 
			 1991–92 37,512 51,879 
			 1992–93 40,010 53,629 
			 1993–94 40,610 53,078 
			 1994–95 41,890 53,922 
			 1995–96 43,165 54,047 
			 1996–97 44,483 53,797 
			 1997–98 46,031 54,071 
			 1998–99 48,037 55,001 
			 1999–2000 52,606 59,069 
			 2000–01 54,219 60,094 
			 2001–02 56,510 61,123 
			 2002–03 61,618 64,596 
			 2003–04(62) 67,040 68,470 
		
	
	(62) Forecast figure.
	Note:
	IANI relates to all principal GPs (full-time and part-time).
	
		Table 4:—Estimated average general dental service (GDS) net income for dentists with a reasonable GDS commitment(63), 1997–98 to 2004–05, England and Wales.
		
			 £ 
			  Estimated average net income 
			 Financial year Cash terms In 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1997–98 51,200 60,143 
			 1998–99 54,300 62,172 
			 1999–2000 55,700 62,544 
			 2000–01(64) (65)59,200 (65)65,614 
			 2001–02 60,500 65,439 
			 2002–03 63,300 66,359 
			 2003–04 66,700 68,122 
			 2004–05 70,000 70,000 
		
	
	(63) Dentists with a reasonable commitment to the GDS are defined as dentists with GDS earnings equivalent to at least £40,000 in 1993–94 in fees for treatments and patient capitation. This equivalent is calculated each year by adjusting figures to take into account the effect of fee increases. The equivalent figure for 2004–05 is £59,100.
	(64) Commitment payments started in 2001.
	(65) Figures since 2000–01 use a different methodology to calculate the contribution from other non-fee/capitation payments.
	Note:
	Figures prior to 1997–98 are not available on a comparable basis.
	Source:
	DH and HSCIC analysis of Dental Practice Board payments and HMRC tax data The income figures cover both estimated fees for treatments and patient capitation as well as other estimated payments such as seniority payments and commitment payments and payments for maternity and sickness.

NHS Restructuring

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many civil servants in her Department are involved in policy work on the proposed restructuring of the NHS in England, broken down by grade; and how many are secondees from NHS trusts.

Liam Byrne: The senior officer responsible for commissioning a patient led national health service is Sir lan Carruthers seconded from the NHS. He is supported by a central team of 14 permanent staff, three of whom are secondees from the NHS. This includes three senior civil servants. The remaining posts are all in the integrated payband.

Older People's National Service Framework

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the National Clinical Director for Older People to publish his report Next Steps for Older People's National Service Framework.

Liam Byrne: Professor Ian Philp, the National Clinical Director for Older People, plans to publish his "Next Steps" report by the end of April.

Practice-based Commissioning

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what safeguards her Department is putting in place against conflicts of interest in practice-based commissioning;
	(2)  whether general practitioners will be able to commission services provided by themselves under practice-based commissioning.

Liam Byrne: General practitioners are able to provide services under practice based commissioning. "Making Practice Based Commissioning a Reality—Technical Guidance" (February 2005), makes it clear that where practices or localities are both a provider and a commissioner of services, it is very important that there are no actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Patients should also be given a choice of other providers of that service and should not feel pressured to choose the practice as provider.
	The roles and responsibilities of primary care trusts (PCTs) and practices under practice based commissioning was set out in Annexe D of "Health reform in England: update and next steps" (December 2005). This states that PCTs continue to negotiate and hold contracts under practice based commissioning.
	In addition, the Department has recently released updated practice based commissioning guidance. "Practice based commissioning: achieving universal coverage" (January 2006) reinforces the need for robust arrangements for agreeing contracts for services provided under practice based commissioning.

Regulatory Reform Orders

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many regulatory reform orders her Department has laid before Parliament in each of the last five calendar years.

Liam Byrne: The Department laid before Parliament one regulatory reform order, "The National Health Service Charitable and Non-Charitable Trust Accounts and Audit Order" in 2005.

Rule of Rescue Principle

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence takes into account the rule of rescue when evaluating (a) drug treatments for brain cancer and (b) other drug treatments; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: In December 2005, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) launched its "Social Value Judgements" document setting out principles for the development of NICE guidance. At this time, NICE anticipated the later inclusion of additional areas.
	In order to inform this ongoing work, NICE asked a meeting of its Citizens Council in late January 2006 for its views on the rule of rescue. The Citizens Council heard evidence from a variety of experts and organisations active in this field to inform their discussions. I understand that the Citizens Council will in due course submit a report to the board of NICE setting out its findings.

Tubercolosis

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons Chapter 33 of the Department of Health Immunisation against Infectious Diseases 2006, published in November 2005, does not include reference to the unlicensed nature of the purified protein derivative used in the Mantoux test for tuberculosis and the need for this product to be issued under a patient specific direction.

Caroline Flint: Guidance regarding the supply and administration of any unlicensed vaccine, including Tuberculin purified protein derivative by patient specific directions is covered in the draft chapter 6, "Immunisation by nurses and other healthcare professionals", of the Department's "Immunisation against Infectious Diseases 2006", published in November 2005, which is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/33/48/04123348.pdf.